The Delius Society Journal Autumn 2016, Number 160 The Delius Society (Registered Charity No 298662) President Lionel Carley BA, PhD Vice Presidents Roger Buckley Sir Andrew Davis CBE Sir Mark Elder CBE Bo Holten RaD Piers Lane AO, Hon DMus Martin Lee-Browne CBE David Lloyd-Jones BA, FGSM, Hon DMus Julian Lloyd Webber FRCM Anthony Payne Website: delius.org.uk ISSN-0306-0373 THE DELIUS SOCIETY Chairman Position vacant Treasurer Jim Beavis 70 Aylesford Avenue, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3SD Email: [email protected] Membership Secretary Paul Chennell 19 Moriatry Close, London N7 0EF Email: [email protected] Journal Editor Katharine Richman 15 Oldcorne Hollow, Yateley GU46 6FL Tel: 01252 861841 Email: [email protected] Front and back covers: Delius’s house at Grez-sur-Loing Paintings by Ishihara Takujiro The Editor has tried in good faith to contact the holders of the copyright in all material used in this Journal (other than holders of it for material which has been specifically provided by agreement with the Editor), and to obtain their permission to reproduce it. Any breaches of copyright are unintentional and regretted. CONTENTS EDITORIAL ..........................................................................................................5 COMMITTEE NOTES..........................................................................................6 SWEDISH CONNECTIONS ...............................................................................7 DELIUS’S NORWEGIAN AND DANISH SONGS: VEHICLES OF STYLISTIC EXPERIMENT AND CHANGE ................................................... 19 CHASING LATE SWALLOWS ........................................................................ 37 DELIUS, CABLE AND WEXFORD’S KOANGA ........................................... 52 DELIUS, WHOEVER HE MAY BE .................................................................. 61 INSPIRED BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON ............................................... 74 100 YEARS AGO ................................................................................................ 79 DELIUS’S HOUSTON CONNECTIONS ........................................................ 81 THREE GOOD READS...................................................................................... 84 BRAVING THE WEB FOR DELIUS … ........................................................... 86 OBITUARIES ...................................................................................................... 89 Peter Harris (1931-2016) ................................................................................ 89 RETHINKING DELIUS – A CRITICAL SYMPOSIUM ................................. 91 CONCERT REVIEWS ........................................................................................ 95 A Mass of Life ................................................................................................. 95 Requiem in Bielefeld .................................................................................... 100 Delius and Ivor Gurney ............................................................................... 103 Requiem in Cardiff ....................................................................................... 104 CD REVIEWS .................................................................................................... 107 A Village Romeo and Juliet ......................................................................... 107 DVD REVIEWS ................................................................................................. 111 Ken Russell: The Great Composers .......................................................... 111 DELIUS SOCIETY MEETING REPORTS ...................................................... 116 British Music Society Annual Lecture ....................................................... 116 The Delius Prize 2016................................................................................... 117 Delius in Performance ................................................................................. 120 DSJ 160 3 MISCELLANY ................................................................................................. 126 A Village Romeo and Juliet ........................................................................ 126 Conferences in Grez and Torbay ............................................................... 127 Graham Greene and Delius ........................................................................ 128 An Anthony Payne Proms Premiere ......................................................... 128 Eric Fenby ..................................................................................................... 129 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ........................................................................... 130 FORTHCOMING EVENTS ............................................................................ 139 Delius Society London Branch ................................................................... 139 Other Events ................................................................................................. 140 4 DSJ 160 EDITORIAL Welcome to the Autumn issue of the Journal which I am putting together whilst in Malaysia on an examining tour – a fascinating experience but sadly one that is Delius-free! This issue owes much to two Delius seminars which have been held over the spring and summer months. First we had an afternoon event on the day of the Delius Prize final, back in May, at which Professor Daniel Grimley discussed his transcription of Late Swallows (see page 37), Professor Anthony Gritten gave a paper entitled ‘Delius, whoever he may be’, and conductor Bo Holten talked about interpreting Delius. Then, in July, again the work of Daniel Grimley, there was a Symposium at the British Library entitled Rethinking Delius – a Critical Symposium at which leading scholars presented papers on a variety of topics. A review of the day is on page 91, and I am very grateful to Professors Anthony Gritten and Peter Franklin, who have kindly allowed their papers to be reproduced in these pages. Also reproduced in this edition is the text of Jeremy Dibble’s lecture on Delius’s Norwegian and Danish songs, given at the British Music Society meeting in March, which was run in association with the Delius Society. I am very grateful to Jeremy for adapting his talk, which was illustrated so well by baritone Milo Harries, so that it can be enjoyed by readers who were unable to be present. It is wonderful to have so many letters to the Editor in this issue (page 130) – it is excellent to have such ongoing lively debate so please do keep these coming in! It is also good to see that performances of Delius’s music are still being put on all over the world (listing page 140) – and not just The Walk and the Cuckoo: the Double Concerto, Cello Sonata and Brigg Fair all feature in forthcoming programmes. If you plan to attend any of the concerts listed and would be prepared to write a review for the Journal, do please let me know in advance. Please do keep your articles, letters, and other contributions coming in. The copy deadline for DSJ 161, to be published in March 2017, is 1st February. Katharine Richman [email protected] Tel 01252 861841 or 07940 888508 DSJ 160 5 COMMITTEE NOTES In place of the usual Chairman’s notes are notes from the Committee. You will be glad to know that the Committee continues to work hard to keep the Society running, and providing members with a selection of events, the Journal and the Newsletter. Peter Watts, our very capable treasurer, gave notice several months ago that he would be retiring at the 2016 AGM and I hope that those of you who were there took the opportunity to thank him for all he has done. Whilst we will of course miss Peter, we are delighted to welcome in his place Jim Beavis, who very kindly came forward in response to a notice in a previous Journal. Jim brings a huge amount of financial experience to the role and the hand over from Peter has been very smooth. Jim has recently retired from a career as an accountant working for various public sector organisations. He tells us that his musical preferences were inspired by studying Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro for O Level Music and he soon made the natural progression to Debussy before discovering Delius and becoming a member of the Society. His main interest is, however, horse racing, having been inspired by his parents taking him to Brighton races when he was aged eleven. Jim often goes racing, has researched its history for several years, and is the author of a number of books about individual racecourses. We are very grateful indeed to Jim for taking on the Treasurer role. We are delighted, too, that Roger Buckley has agreed to remain on the Committee for another year. Roger was co-opted earlier this year, with specific responsibility for organising the Delius Prize and this year’s AGM at Madingley Hall, Cambridge. You will note that we are still without a Chairman and a Vice chairman. Whilst the Society continues to run, the Committee would be very pleased to hear from any members who may have suggestions as to how they might volunteer their help. In the meantime, any emails sent to [email protected] will be read by Paul Chennell and forwarded on as appropriate. Contact details for members of the Committee are given at the front of the Journal. 6 DSJ 160 SWEDISH CONNECTIONS Lionel Carley, President of The Delius Society and Adviser and Hon Archivist of The Delius